Annual Report 2004

Glossary
STEP2: the first and, to date, only PEACH for intra-EU credit transfers,
which started operation in April 2003 and had some 90 direct and around
1,350 indirect participants at year-end 2004. With this system, the Euro
Banking Association (EBA) offers credit institutions a technical infrastructure
for cost-efficient and swift processing of transactions that meet specific
requirements. Transactions must, for instance, be in euro, and both the
International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and Bank Identifier Code
(BIC) must be correctly indicated on the payment order. The Oesterreichische
Nationalbank has been providing access to STEP2 since November 3, 2003.
Stress test: analysis of the impact of drastic, yet plausible stress scenarios in
terms of credit and market risk on the adequacy of a bankÕs capital.
TARGET: Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express
Transfer. A real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system that processes largevalue
euro payments in real time, which consists of the 15 national RTGS
systems of the EU-15, the ECB payment mechanism (EPM) and the Interlinking
system connecting the individual TARGET components. The ARTIS
system operated by the Oesterreichische Nationalbank is the Austrian RTGS
system connected to TARGET.
TARGET2: next generation of the TARGET system scheduled to start operation
in January 2007. A Single Shared Platform (SSP) to be built by the Deutsche
Bundesbank, the Banque de France and the Banca dÕItalia will be at the
heart of TARGET2, which will offer extended, standardized functionality
across Europe at harmonized prices.
Tax-to-GDP ratio: the sum of direct, indirect and capital taxes as well as
social security contributions (excluding imputed contributions) as a percentage
of GDP at market prices.
Terms of trade: ratio of a countryÕs export prices to import prices in a
single currency.
Treaty: refers to the Treaty establishing the European Community and the
subsequent amendments. The Treaty was signed in Rome (ÒTreaty of RomeÓ),
entered into force on January 1, 1958, and created the European Economic
Community (EEC). It was amended by the Treaty on European Union (ÒMaastricht
TreatyÓ), which took effect on November 1, 1993, and established the
European Union (EU). The Stability and Growth Pact (ÒTreaty of Amsterdam,Ó
May 1, 1999) amended both the Treaty establishing the European
Community and the Treaty on European Union; the most recent amendment
— the ÒTreaty of NiceÓ — entered into force on February 1, 2003.
Twin deficit: a general government deficit coinciding with a current
account deficit.
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Annual Report 2004